Saturday, April 9, 2011

This month's issue of Game Informer magazine has Mass Effect 3 on the cover and there's also the first detailed preview of developer BioWare's third game in its planned trilogy of sci-fi RPG titles. Someone at the NeoGAF message boards has already posted up some details of what's in the article.

We won't go into much of what's been revealed but two big things are that the RPG system will be deeper than Mass Effect 2. The other is that there will be no multiplayer in Mass Effect 3, despite lots of rumors to the contrary. There might be multiplayer features in future games and/or spin-offs but the core Mass Effect trilogy will remain single player only. The game still due out this winter.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

One of the most important parts of any good action RPG are the monsters you slaughter. After all, if you fight the same old skeletons and oozes and imps, all that loot grinding can get a bit tedious! Runic has revealed some of the new monster designs for Torchlight 2 on the game's site, and they are rather impressive. The one to the left is one of our person favorites: dwarven automata.

They have also promised to reveal more information about the game every other week until E3 as well, meaning that we will soon get more than just monster pictures and backstories. We personally hope that they reveal the history of the world soon, since Torchlight got us quite interested!

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

A retailer in Australia may have revealed the title, maps and release date for the next Call of Duty Black Ops DLC map pack. VG247.com reports that the GAME Australia web site posted a flyer (since taken down) for the Escalation Pack.

According to the flyer the map pack will contain five new maps for Treyarch's hit first person shooter, including one more new zombie themed map. The flyer hints that one of the maps takes place in a zoo. It says the map pack will be released on May 3 for the Xbox 360. It's likely the PC version will be released about a month or so later.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

StarCraft II players now have access to the final and official versions of the custom mod maps that were first announced last October at BlizzCon. The maps, (the cooking themed Aiur Chef, the horror themed Left 2 Die, and the puzzle themed StarJeweled), each have their own special gameplay modes and rules. You can get info on all three maps at the official Maps and Mods web page.

All three maps have been able to be played in beta form for some time but today they are available to all players with a number of improvements and more importantly new official achievements to unlock for players. A fourth custom map that was shown at BlizzCon, Blizzard DOTA, has not yet been released.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has had a rocky (hehe) relationship with making movies based on games. In a new chat with MTV.com he admitted that the 2005 movie adaptation of Doom (where he basically played the good guy that turned into the bad monster) "... didn't work out the way we wanted it to, creatively." And remember when he was supposed to play the driver in the Spy Hunter movie? We do.

But that doesn't mean Johnson is scared of making another game-to-movie project. He also admitted that his dream project would be to make a movie based on " mind: "'[Call of Duty] Black Ops,' that'd be bad ass. Let's make it happen, let's do it," He might be right.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

PC owners of Need For Speed Hot Pursuit can down download a new patch, the fourth, for the recent arcade racing game from Electronic Arts. The patch doesn't add any new content to the game but the patch notes claim that it does fix another 30 percent of the known crash bugs on the PC version. That just leaves another 23 percent of the crash bugs to be fixed.

The fixes in this patch include dealing with crashes when a controller is unexpectedly disconnected from the PC along with crashes when the game loads some invalid controller configuration files.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

If you have been waiting for a new PC patch for Crysis 2 your wait is over. Crytek's official message boards for the game have revealed the patch notes for the just released 1.2.0.0 PC patch. The notes reveal that the patch contains some more anti-cheating measures along with the option for crouch toggle in both single player and multiplayer.

There's also some login issues that are fixed as well as one that caused some players to lose Nano Catalyst points after restarting the game. Steam users who have already downloaded the patch are apparently getting some long loading times but the Steam version should have that fixed in a few days.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Rumors with a little bit of evidence have hit the internet that seem to indicate that gaming media company IGN may be planning to launch its own professional gaming league, with Blizzard's sci-fi RTS game StarCraft II at the center of it.

Starcraft-themed web site TeamLiquid.net reports via Korean-based web sites that IGN will launch such a league with a prize pool of between $150,000 to $200,000. In addition there is a IGN Pro League web site already set up that seems to be counting down towards a launch around midnight Eastern time on Tuesday.

If true this would be the latest attempt to launch a US-based pro gaming league. At the moment only Major League Gaming has been successful at staying afloat with other ventures like the Cyberathlete Professional League, the Championship Gaming Series and the World Series of Video Games all closing up shop in the past few years.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Sony Online got hit earlier this week with mass layoffs and the total shutdown of three of its five studios, along with the cancelation of The Agency. Prior to the layoffs Sony Online head man John Smedley had been stating that the upcoming revivial of the sci-fi FPS MMO Planetside would launch a beta at the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter.

The bad news? Smedley told fan site Planetside Universe that the launch of PlanetSide Next "will be out a little later in the year." The good news is that Smedley also said that more resources would be put into the game and "we are pulling out all the stops to make it great." There are also hints that more info on this move will be revealed sometime next week.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Recently there was a bit of controversy over the Capture the Babe multiplayer mode that will be in the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever game. The mode will have players hold the babe in question and if she started becoming antsy, the player is suppose to slap them (gently) on her behind. That caused some to be critical of the mode, saying any kind of physical force on a female was sending the wrong message.

In a new chat with Computer and Video Games, Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford defends Duke's behavior towards women, saying, " ... he actually loves women and will put himself to great risk to make sure that they're safe. That's the whole premise of the game." He added, "I think it'd be really interesting some day to see what a female version of Duke would be like. Maybe that's a game." Indeed that would be a game; anyone want to make it?

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

After a very busy March for major PC game releases, things slow down a bit for the first full week of April with several smaller downloadable PC games due to be released.

Dino D-Day: This game, which first started life as a Half-Life 2 mod, has one of the more colorful premises we have ever seen. The multiplayer shooter's back story has the Nazi's in WWII creating weapon-based dinosaurs which the Allies have to fight off. The game's developers at 800 North have already promised that this game will get lots of free content after its release on April 8.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth: This debut title from 11 Bit Studios is a top down tower defense game that has you trying to defend Earth against an alien invasion.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

If Assault Squad was an MG 42 it would need a barrel change about every three minutes. ‘Ferocious’ doesn’t begin to describe the bloody bullet ballets served-up by this semimarvellous semi-sequel.

Instead of sending our favourite WWII tactics title in years back to the front with a conventional campaign in its kit bag, Digitalmindsoft have equipped it with something called ‘Skirmish’. There’s still a heap of singleplayer missions (16), but now all scenarios rely on the same push-push-PUSH! play mechanism.

You start at one end of a long battlefield with a knot of infantry under your wing. By pushing forward and seizing the control flags that dot the terrain, reinforcement points are earned, and new force types unlocked. A gain might release a new armoured car or infantry flavour. It may also trigger a brutal counter-attack. These retaliatory thrusts, combined with the fact the AI is usually dug-in deeper than an agoraphobic tin miner, mean victories sometimes take hours to secure. Even on ‘easy’ you’ll need stamina and skill to prevail.

What lovely war
Though the enemy never stops trying to regain lost flags, there are usually sufficient lulls in the lead storm to enjoy MoW’s trademark intricacy. A click here sends a sergeant scampering across a lane to pick up an abandoned anti-tank rifle. A click there sends a sniper slithering surreptitiously down the flank. Behind the church, two unhorsed tankers jog forward to begin repairs on a knocked out StuG. By the bridge, engineers start stringing barbed wire and laying mines, and grenadiers clamber back into a halftrack in readiness for the next nerve-shredding, pulse-propelling phase of the assault.

One of the moodiest Space Marine chapters, the Dark Angels are known for their awesome robes and brooding, Roman look. THQ announce that they will be making their way to Dawn of War 2: Retribution next week, in a DLC pack that will add new models, paint jobs and emblems to the Space Marine chapter, letting you play as the Dark Angels in mutiplayer. You’ll find four new screens of the chapter below.

Bluesnews report that the DLC is due out next Wednesday April 6, and will include eight new models. You’ll find more information on THQ Insider.

Bethesda have released six more screens of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, showing some more Oblivion-esque landscapes, dungeon interiors, angry ghosts and a huge freakin’ mace. You’ll find the new screens below. Click to enlarge them.

This week Markus Persson, the guy behind indie hit Minecraft, mentioned he had two meetings coming up: one with a prospective employee, another with someone who “has a great business idea”. Later, he wrote on his blog that a “rather spontaneous rich guy” met with the team, then invited them to fly to a party in London on his private jet. Which they did.

When fans pestered him for the identity of the mysterious rich guy on Twitter, Notch confirmed that Majestic XII’s guess was correct: Napster founder and influential Facebook investor Sean Parker. Which makes the whole thing amusingly close to the flashy behaviour of the Sean Parker character in The Social Network, the movie about the founding of Facebook that Parker himself called “a complete work of fiction”.

So if you were wondering, yes: it is possible to make an indie game so good that rich people show up and fly you to parties. The interesting part is, assuming Parker wasn’t the prospective employee, what was his “great business idea” for Notch and his team?

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Developer Interwave Studios has been working on its Source Engine-based RTS-shooter Nuclear Dawn for some time and on Friday (in what we assume was not intended to be an April Fool's joke) the game's official web site announced that Nuclear Dawn is now set for a September 2011 release date.

Not only that but the site has also announced that it will be taking pre-orders for the game about 60 days before it is officially released. Furthermore pre-orders will get access to the closed beta test which will launch sometime in August. Finally the game now has a new trailer, with a mix of CGI and in-game footage.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

As promised earlier this week, developer Team Meat has now launched Super Meat World for the PC Steam edition of its popular arcade game Super Meat Boy. The online portal will let players access eight new chapters in the game with over 140 new levels.

The promised level editor for the game is still coming, according to the post. Team Meat states, "The level editor is currently being rigged to Steam, and will soon be release as a public beta." Meanwhile Super Meat Boy is currently on sale on Steam for 50 percent separately off or as part of the Potato Sack indie game bundle for 75 percent off.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

ACE Team's upcoming downloadable action-strategy game Rock of Ages is still one of the most original looking games we have seen in a while. But the game's publisher Atlus USA is giving fans an extra special April Fools's treat; a free game that gives a 2D perspective on things.

The free game, Pebble of Time, is set up on a web site made to look like it's the product of just one person, an indie game developer who complains that ACE Team stole his idea for the game to make Rock of Ages. He (or rather the site) states, "II was really hoping the success of Pebble of Time could afford me some like, eye transplant, or cyborg eyes, which would be cooler. Or could it be that visor the guy has on Star Trek." It always comes back to Trek.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Fable III is set for its PC debut later this year and today IGN has posted up word that the hardware system requirements for developer Lionhead Studios' latest fantasy RPG have been revealed. You can check out both the minimal and recommended system specs for the game after the jump.

As we have reported earlier this year, the Fable III PC port will be released on May 17 and will include a new Hardcore difficulty mode. The game will also be the first PC game that will be released by Microsoft Game Studios since the Gears of War port back in December 2007.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

If you have been playing the PC version of Dragon Age 2 and have wanted the performance to be better, then you might want to pay attention to this. Graphics chip maker Nvidia has released some new GeForce beta drivers that, among other things, greatly increases the performance of BioWare's recent fantasy RPG.

The 270.51 drivers increase perfomance for that game by up to 516 percent with a GeForce GTX 580 graphics card and up to 461 percent with a GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. Many other PC games also get performance boosts with this driver update. It also includes the first appearance of Nvidia Update, a new and optional program that automatically scans your PC to see if you need a new driver update and then letting you know if a driver is available for download.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Sony Online Entertainment, known primarily for its MMO game titles, could be in the middle of a huge restructuring. Kotaku is reporting via unnamed sources that the company has shut down three of its five development studios based in Seattle, Tuscon and Denver. In addition the rumors claims the company has also laid off significant numbers of team members at its two remaining studios, San Diego and Austin. Kotaku claims in its article that the layoffs total nearly a third of Sony Online's employees.

The Tuscon offices are the the home to the team behind the fantasy collectible online card game PoxNora while the Denver team worked on several other collectible online games. The shutdown of the Seattle offices, if true, is perhaps the most significant since it was the studio in charge of developing the long awaited super-spy themed MMO The Agency which was first announced nearly four years ago.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Turok II is one of my personal favorite first person shooting games. This game is full of new weapons, many puzzles and mazes to solve. This game is extremely difficult and challenging, especially in the begining when you start out without cheats and just have a knife and a bow.

Of course, sometimes it’s fun to dominate the game without spending a lot of time which is where video game cheats comes into play. For the most part though, the cheats, “mainly the master cheat” (oblivionisathand) ruins the game and turns it into just a shooting game which is fun if you’re in the mood for shooting but it’s really not much of a challenge. This problem with this particular cheat is that it gives you EVERYTHING including ALL WEAPONS, UNLIMITED AMMO, ALL LEVELS, INVINCIBILITY, and ALL SPECIAL ITEMS and a variety of visual and weapon effects. This makes you careless and you don’t have to search for the keys, keycards, hidden levers, new weapons, ammo, health packs, Turok Tokens “they give you extra lives”, or the oracle transporters. This cuts out 95% of the game. The reason I think no one should use this cheat is because I used it and didn’t do anything in the game for years except kill monsters. I didn’t solve any puzzles, mazes, or levels because I always had the cheat. However my buddy bet me I couldn’t get past the third level without cheats. Well, I’m always up for a bet so I gave it a shot. Man if your up for a good challange that is very rewarding Turok II is for you. It took me almost 3 weeks to beat the game. For a gamer like me, puzzle and strategy games don’t take me more than a week. Turok II impressed me and that is why I am writing about it now. This game is on Nintindo 64 and is worth a try for anyone who likes a challenge.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Super Meat Boy's two man dev team at Team Meat have previously announced plans to launch a portal for the PC version that would allow people to download new user made levels for the hit arcade action game. Now the Team Meat Twitter page is reporting that the portal, Super Meat World, is just days away.

The above screenshot is from Super Meat Boy's chapter viewer. According to the tweets from Team Meat, the portal will launch with over five chapters and over 200 new levels. Also the team reports that after Super Meat World launches it will begin work on the long awaited Mac version of the game

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Back in the 1990s, the fantasy RPG Ultima 4 from developer Origin Systems was released for free from a few selected and official sources. A lot of folks believed this made the game freeware. However in fact it doesn't as the game's current owner Electronic Arts still owns the rights to the entire Ultima game franchise.

Now word comes from the fan site Ultima Aiera that EA has been sending cease and desist letters to web sites hosting the Ultima 4 download along with other sites that have hosted Flash-based remakes. Why has EA, after all this time, decided to move on these sites? Ultma Aiera speculates that it may have something to do with a secret project at EA's Mythic Entertainment developer. It bases that speculation on Twitter messages from Mythic's creative director Paul Barnett that hint that it may be Ultima related.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

As promised earlier this week, Telltale Games has now released the third episode for Back to the Future for the PC and Mac as the developer continues its "sequel" to the classic sci-fi movie trilogy. This third episode is titled Citizen Brown and as you can see in the above screenshot Marty McFly has traveled to an alternate 1986 where Hill Valley has been taken over by a fascist version of his long time friend Doc Brown.

As we reported last week this episode also sees the return of Marty's girlfriend Jennifer Brown, voiced by Claudia Wells, who portrayed the character in the first Back to the Future movie.Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

StarCraft II is now officially invading the many cyber cafes in China. The sci-fi RTS game from developer Blizzard and its Chinese publisher NetEase has now entered into open beta testing in that country and that it will get its official launch just a few days later on April 6.

The game will be sold in 30 day increments for the Chinese market which gives players access to both the multiplayer modes and the single player campaign for the equivalent of $3. The Chinese launch comes several months after StarCraft II was released in much of the world in late July 2010.Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Just a couple of weeks before Rage is released you will be able to check out an adaptation of id Software's next first person shooter in convenient prose form. Publisher Bethesda Softworks announced that a novel version of the post-apocalyptic game will be released via Del Rey on August 30. The game itself is due out on September 13.

The novel goes deeper into the storyline for Rage and is being written by Matt Costello who is a long time collaborator with id on the third Doom game and also on Rage. Costello has previously written two novels based on the storyline for Doom 3.Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

GoG.com brings us another classic Ubisoft game to its growing PC game DRM-free download library today. This time its Rayman Forever, a revamped version of the first ever game in Ubisoft's long running side scrolling action-adventure game series.

The 1999 released game, featuring a character that has hands and feet but no arms and legs, comes three years after the first version of Rayman, the creation of the acclaimed designer Michel Ancel. This version of the game contains a number of extras including a level editor and 40 levels that have been made by Rayman fans. You can get Rayman Forever at GoG.com now for $5.99.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Last week we posted up an interview with the COO of Online Warmongers as we chatted about its upcoming free-to-play shooter War Inc Battle Zone. The game is entering its new closed beta testing period in preparation for its launch this summer. Today Big Download is offering its readers a chance to play in the closed beta test.

This beta test is being handled a bit differently than others we have reported on. Online Warmongers has spots for a whopping 5,000 of our readers. However the closed beta code for the game is the same one for all of those spots so there's no real need for us to actually email the code to each individual reader. Basically you can head over after the jump and follow the directions to get the code and access the closed beta test. Once all 5,000 spots are filled we will update the post accordingly.

Congratulations! Welcome to the closed beta test of The War Inc. Battlezone

As a participant in our beta test, you'll have the chance to experience our new Free to Play third person shooter before it is released to the public. We're looking for your feedback as well as your game play experience; including team vs. team multi-player maps, purchasable items and more. As well as playing the game, we would also appreciate it if you will report any bugs you may find during the closed beta. Bugs can be reported to us via the support form available only for registered users.

2. Install and run game: Once logged in to your account on the "War Inc. Battlezone" website, you can run the game directly by clicking the "PLAY GAME" button or download and install game manually.

- To automatically run game from web page:
- click "PLAY GAME" button
- You will be asked to install web control which will launch the game for you. Please follow the instructions on the screen - they are specific to your web browser
- Installer launched - depending on your internet connection speed.
- After you've installed game and web control you'll be able launch game directly from War Inc web site and you can skip login screen by going directly thru the home menu in a game!
- To download and launch installer manually
- Please follow this link https://account.thewarinc.com/download
- Save and/or run this installer/updater to a folder of your choice, such as "C:\War Inc Battlezone" or anything else you wish to download it to.
- Double click on the WarIncBattlezone_Installer.exe and follow the steps to install the game. (If necessary, click the Install Direct X checkbox to install Direct X.) Installing and accepting the EULA binds you under our Non-Disclosure Agreement so make sure you keep information about this game private.
- Run the game via the Start Menu or by clicking War Inc: Battlezone game icon desktop, accept the EULA, then on the login screen, and log in by using your Username and Password that you created in Step 1.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Good one Riot Games! You really got me with that prank—for a second there, I thought you’d actually confirmed plans to release of the Blind Monk, after years of denying he would ever be revived. Whazzat? It’s not April Fools’ Day? Then…it’s true! Lee-Sin, better known to old-school League of Legends fans as the Blind Monk, is finally resurfacing after a two year hiatus. Come check out the classic champion’s new moves, including a roundhouse kick that puts Chuck Norris to shame.

A little back-story: Lee-Sin was present in early LoL builds, but he never made it into the initial release. One of Riot’s software engineers, Hohums, uses the Blind Monk as his avatar on the forums, and would constantly joke about the Monk’s revival. The Blind Monk was even deconfirmed by Riot’s Ezreal, all but guaranteeing he would never make it back into the League. And with all these Urf appearances, who knows what Riot has in store for other popular but unimplemented champions?

I’m personally planning to buy Lee-Sin on day one, no questions asked. His playstyle sounds incredibly fun—energy heroes are always great for when you want faster-paced combat, and the thought of chaining his abilities into an onslaught of damage gives me a tingly feeling. What’s your take on Lee-Sin? Should Riot have left him on the cutting-room floor, or are you eager to give judo-chops to the necks of all those two-eyed champions?

As all right-thinking people know, there are two reasons not to worry about the environment. If the babbling of fools is correct, the world will end in 2012 anyway. If not, television has long since taught us that if things get too bad, Gaia, spirit of the Earth, will send five magic rings to five special young people, and Captain Planet will clear up our mess. It wouldn’t lie about something like that, right?

There is of course a third possibility. Maybe nothing will change. Maybe the world will continue its spiral into chaos and decay, rendering the planet a barren wasteland where the surface can no longer support life and every day is a miserable existence of swallowing down food pills and waiting for a solar flare to scythe through the atmosphere and finally put us all out of our misery. Maybe in those dark days, only the sudden invention of time travel will offer some form of escape, allowing representatives of humanity to jump back and seek help from the one man who could have set it all right. That man is named Bent Svennson, and if you’re wondering how many cheap jokes about that are coming: just one, promise.

Despite the environmental angle, don’t worry – from the bits we’ve played so far, A New Beginning is neither preachy nor educational. The plot is pure sci-fi, involving a clash between one magic power-source that nukes the Earth, and a race to get it replaced with another magic one that turns simple algae into the ultimate fuel. By the end, there may be a puzzle where you need to sort the recycling into the correct bins or plant a tree, but most of the first chapter at least is more about running around a futuristic San Francisco, followed by a trip back to modern times where you find yourself finding ways to use aftershave and scrap paper to escape from a helicopter in mid-flight, and then sabotaging an energy conference with a badly forged press ID. If controlling emissions can’t save the world, then by god, at least we have adventure game puzzle logic to fall back on! (It’s also darkly amusing that the very first real puzzle, in which you control arch-environmentalist Bent, ends up with you lazily killing a bird.)

Commander Shepard will be flying solo for the final slice of Mass Effect 2 DLC. The Arrival will see you journey to the very edge of charted space to help out an operative with early intelligence on an imminent Reaper invasion, but none of your companions will tag along for the ride. It looks as though Bioware are planning a challenging end to the last piece of Mass Effect 2 DLC with plenty of combat and not much conversation.

Joystiq have taken an early look at The Arrival. The mission will be playable any time after the Horizon mission that takes place halfway through the game, and is described by Bioware as “kind of an epilogue.” Joystiq point out that there will be plenty of combat, and the grumpy, four-eyed Batarians will be the ones taking your bullets.

The solo nature of the mission will mean added challenge for those playing with an Engineer Shepard, or any poorly-armoured class. Luckily, there will be stealth options that will let you get around a few fights. It doesn’t sound as though there will be much in the way of conversation or choices to make, and the mission isn’t going to link Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 3, though it should shed more light on the Reaper threat that’s poised to strike.

The Arrival is coming out next Tuesday March 29.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Better PC games and a better relationship with hackers are the key to fighting piracy, according to Christofer Sundberg, the boss of Just Cause creators, Avalanche. Sundberg believes that common anti-piracy measures like DRM “punishes the people who have actually paid for the game,” and says that hiring hackers is a good way to discover new talent, admitting that “50 percent of the people that work for me come from a hacker background.”

Sundberg was speaking to CVG about better approaches to tackling game piracy, and his belief that there is plenty of potential in the piracy community. “I absolutely think that’s a fair approach, to think about how these people can fit on the right side of the law. It’s one way, at least. Perhaps the truest pirates are too much down the road of anarchy to ever work with you in a proper way; these are the guys who see us as evil!

“But in Sweden the [hacking] scene was huge. We’re the home of the Pirate Bay, you know. As a studio, we’ve found that there’s definitely a lot of talent [in the hacking community].”

As well as tapping the know-how of the hacking community, Sundberg believes that better PC games will reduce levels of piracy, but admits that poor PC ports are a common problem.

“I think piracy wouldn’t be as much of an issue if there were better PC games out there. We could just scrap the whole concept of stupid DRM,” he says, adding “I’ve always been of the opinion that we should design PC games for the PC players. PC players and console players are completely two different types of consumer.

“You end up just doing a port, so there’s not a lot of time, budget or creative thinking going into using the PC. I think that’s quite sad. We [as an industry] should take the PC platform, more seriously. Everyone is just complaining about piracy on the PC, but when it comes to in-game DLC or social connectivity, the options on PC compared to console are endless.”

“I would like at some point to do a really good PC game designed specifically for PC players.”

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Heroes of Newerth players suffering from entomophobia (fear of insects) are about to get a nasty surprise: Tremble, the seventy-sixth hero to join HoN’s ragtag bunch, is sure to give hapless noobs nightmares. Combine the horrifying appearance of Warhammer 40K’s Tyranid Lictor with the creepy burrowing of StarCraft II’s equally horrifying Zerg, and you’ll understand why heroes should be terrified when the ground starts rumbling beneath their feet. Read on to find out more about the bloodcurdling beetle who’ll be coming soon to a gank near you.

Role:
Tremble, an Agility-based melee hero, has got it where it counts: his abilities make him both an excellent farmer and ganker. His early-game harassment and his ability to rake in gold can make him a force to be reckoned with mid-game, giving him free reign to roam around the map killing everything in sight (courtesy of his temporary invisibility). Players will have to use Tremble’s early-game advantages to stay ahead, lest they end up weak in the late-game when everyone else’s abilities that start scaling up. His Ultimate ability, Hive Mind, summons a powerful bug-pet, Shudder; this incredibly strong pet can effectively double your presence around the map. You can farm with Tremble while microing Shudder to aid your team with ganks and scouting. Check out Tremble’s four powers, with tips from S2 Games’ own [S2]Nome, the mind behind this hero.

Abilities:
Dark Swarm: When activated, Tremble becomes enveloped in a Dark Swarm of bugs. Enemies outside of Dark Swarm do less damage to Tremble, while enemies inside the Swarm take high magic damage. In the lane, it can be used when going for a kill, or simply to farm creeps. Coupled with the slow from Impalers, Dark Swarm can make Tremble a difficult hero to pin down and eliminate. In team fights, activating Dark Swarm while engaging a target grants massive damage mitigation against ranged heroes, forcing them to enter the Swarm to take Tremble down.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Duke Nukem Forever is still coming, after 14 years of development. But it's apparently not coming on May 3 anymore. In a new trailer (which you can see after the jump) Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford is pretty much blindsided with the reveal that the long awaited first person shooter is now due for release on June 14 in the US (with a June 10 release date in other parts of the world).

While no reason was given for the delay we actually think this is a good thing since Duke Nukem Forever was originally being released in a very crowded month of May for new game releases, especially for first person shooters (both Brink and F.E.A.R. 3 are also due out that month). The new June date will be relatively free of new game releases.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Codemasters' newest racing sim game franchise will get a second installment in September. MCV reports that F1 2011 will be released on September 23 for the PC and other platforms. Since that's on a Friday it's likely that the game will be released in the US a few days earlier or later.

Codemasters first released its first PC Formula 1-based racing game, F1 2010, last fall. Despite some issues with the game's AI that were fixed via patches later (along with post launch support for DirectX 11 graphics) MCV reports that the game was the most successful in Codemasters' history

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Since launch, Trion World’s new MMO, Rift, has been under constant attack from hackers trying to steal accounts. Trion Worlds have been fighting back against the attacks with the help of a benevolent hacker who spotted a huge security flaw in Rift’s system, and contacted the developers to help them fix the problem. Trion Worlds have since launched a “one-two punch” of security updates over the weekend to help protect player accounts.

The hacker goes by the name ManWitDaPlan, and refers to himself as a “white hat”, an ethical hacker whose day job involves running a security firm that works to secure and destroy sensitive data. His Rift account was hacked in March, so when he spotted a loophole in the Rift servers that would allow a malicious user to access someone else’s account without needing their user name and password, he got in touch with Trion straight away. Five minutes later, he was talking to Rift lead developer Steve Chamberlain, and the engineering team was working on a fix for the problem.

“Trion hit this like Jackie Chan channeling Bruce Lee,” said ManWitDaPlan, speaking to ZAM, “which is what you do when you find an exploit. No playing the blame game, no whining, just find and fix and slam the door on the hackers.”

Rift executive producer Scott Hartsman posted on the Rift forums on Saturday to thank the helpful hacker, “We’d definitely like to thank Mr. ManWitDaPlan for the well-timed assist. Sir, we salute you and offer our most heartfelt thanks.” It’s rumoured that ManWitDaPlan received a lifetime subscription to Rift for his troubles. All he would say is “Trion seems very happy with me for some reason. I’ll be around for a while…”

In the Saturday forum post, Hartsman also outlined a few new security measures for Rift, saying that, so far, hacks have affected about 1% of the Rift community. Trion Worlds are hiring more staff to combat the ongoing attacks.

“Both the login fix and the Coin Lock addition have been doing their part in signficantly reducing overall incidents over the last 18 hours.” says Hartsman, adding that “neither one is a silver bullet, but so far it is looking to be a solid one-two punch.” Meanwhile he encourages players to make sure their email passwords and Rift passwords are different, saying that attacks are likely to continue. “This will remain something that we will continue keeping an eye on, forever.”

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

The first details of Prey 2 suggest that it will be very different to the original, though equally as mad. It will be a single player only, open world shooter set in a run-down future metropolis. The main character will be a free-running Sheriff with the unlikely name of “Killian Samuels,” and the game promises to have “the moving scheme from Mirror’s Edge, the freedom of Mass Effect and the fire fights of Killzone 2.”

GameReactor magazine have spilled the beans on the sequel, which will draw inspiration from Mass Effect, The Chronicles of Riddick, Blade Runner and Mirror’s Edge. Killian will be “as flexible and limber as Faith of ME, leaping over hights, hanging by arms from pipes, balancing on thin boards and jumping like a cat upwards structures.”

The game has been in development for three years and is set on the planet of Exodus, an alien desert world with big city environments. You’ll be able to pick and choose missions and the game will have an inventory system that will let you upgrade your weapons and abilities. Weapons can be customised and rebuilt to change their stats, and different ammo types add more customisation options.

The portals of Prey 1 will return, though they’ll be rarer, and the multiplayer mode won’t make a return at all. Human Head said “Who would pick the MP mode of Prey 2 ahead of the one in for example Halo Reach? We’d rather to a really good SP adventure.” The game is scheduled to come out next year.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Duke Nukem Forever’s “Capture the Babe” CTF variant requires you to abduct a woman to score. The mode is revealed in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine US where they explain that Gearbox will give the option to give her a “slap” if she “freaks out” as you drag her across the map.

WTF? Read on for the details and to hear Gearbox’s CEO’s attitude towards Duke’s controversy-bating elements.

Speaking to the magazine, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said: “Our goal isn’t to shock people, but I think there’s some stuff that’s a bit uncomfortable. I mean, the alien’s plan is to capture our women and impregnate them to breed an alien army, so you can imagine some horrible shit happens.”

OXM reports that Capture the Babe is “Pretty much what you’d expect to see from a CFT-style mode, with one small touch: the “Babe” will sometimes freak out while you’re carrying her (somewhat understandable we’d say) at which point you have to hit a button to gently give her a reassuring slap.”

According to Randy, Gearbox are intending to “Get right up to that edge and then relax enough so people don’t reject it.”

Sorry Randy, I just rejected.

I like flags and guns as much as the next man, but abducting and slapping women has never been on my gaming wishlist. Yes, footage of the mode in action hasn’t yet been released, but I’m finding it hard trying to imagine how this could be work out fine.

OXM details four multiplayer modes which will support up to eight players each: Dukematch, Team Dukematch, Capture the Babe and Hail to the King. Duke Nukem Forever will come in multiple editions, and is due for release May 3 2011.

Disclaimer:All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.